Hulu Summary:
Eccentric staff members of an upstate New York theater camp must band together when their beloved founder falls into a coma.
FYA Summary:
Not to be dramatic but if this film had come out when I was in high school, i.e. my theater kid heyday, I would have been OBSESSED. I would’ve memorized every song, learned every line, perfected my Troy impression, and then I would have proceeded to annoy the hell out of any non-drama-club teen around me by quoting it incessantly.
JK, as adult Sarah, I’m also OBSESSED! Y’all Theater Camp captures everything I loved about being a drama geek while also being a ridiculously hilarious blast of a film. In the vein of a Christopher Guest movie, it’s structured as a documentary, and much of the dialogue was improvised–so very theatre, right?!
So Adiron-ACTS, a theater camp in upstate NY, is on the brink of collapse; its founder, Joan Rubinsky, is in a coma, and her son Troy, a YouTube financial bro, has taken over and clearly has no idea what he’s doing. The counselors, all diehards, proceed as normal, but it’s clear that there are cracks in the stage, largely evidenced by the slowly deteriorating friendship between Rebecca-Diane and Amos, who write THE musical every summer and haven’t even started.
It’s a glorious, colorful, riotous mess of a camp, but this motley crew of performers will do anything to save it.
Familiar Faces:
Molly Gordon as Rebecca-Diane; Ben Platt as Amos Klobuchar
You may recognize Molly Gordon from The Bear S2, but she plays a VERY different character in this movie. She also co-wrote and co-directed it, because she is a freaking badass. Her performance as Rebecca-Diane, a deeply passionate, hippy dippy counselor who believes in the sacred nature of theater but also the RULES of theater, reminded me soooo much of girls I did plays with in high school. Her (platonic) chemistry with Ben Platt, who plays Amos, is comedic gold, and I credit her performance with making me actually really like Ben Platt (sorry!!). As Amos, Ben is so very EXTRA, but he’s also a Broadway old soul, and he truly cares about the camp and its campers. The scenes when these two are “writing” songs for their musical or rehearsing with the kids left me cackling with laughter.
Jimmy Tatro as Troy; Ayo Edebiri as Janet
Jimmy Tatro has been in a variety of films and TV, but I honestly never took notice until he swaggered on screen as Troy. This character is the kind of douchebag I would’ve hated in high school but immensely enjoyed watching as an adult; he’s a clueless tool who ends up kind of having a heart of gold? A fish out of water amongst drama geeks, Troy tries his best to fit in, to gut-busting results.
And oh hey, it’s Ayo Edebiri, another The Bear alum! Ayo plays Janet, a decidedly inexperienced theater teacher who wings it in the weirdest, most hysterical way.
The rest of the cast is all stellar, but I want to give a specific shout-out to the child actors in the film, who are PERFECT. NO NOTES.
Couch-Sharing Capability: A Chorus Line
Make it a full cast party, y’all! I saw this for the first time at SXSW with a packed house, and the waves of laughter just rolled and rolled. Even if your pals never did theater, they’ll still have a great time, but yeah, if you do invite any drama nerds, you should fully expect to pause, rewind, and rewatch certain moments and scenes several times because it’s just TOO good. (And you’ll want to catch all of the Broadway references!)
Recommended Level of Inebriation: L’Chaim!
Like, don’t be a Miss Hannigan, but a drink or two will get you in the spirit, especially for the grand finale! And theaters sell booze at intermission so consider it method acting.
Use of Your Streaming Subscription: All That Jazz
Theater Camp is delightfully funny and sweetly charming, and regardless of your feelings about Broadway and whether actors should be allowed to use eye drops to make themselves cry, you’ll find yourself enthusiastically applauding when the curtain goes down. Bravo!!!
We published this review during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. This work would not exist without the labor of actors, and we support their goals.
